Hi,
My apologies ahead of time if this letter reads like one big basset hound howl, but I just had a cup of coffee that has the very real potential to change my life. There is a place here called The French Press , and, thanks to their fearless leaders, Todd Stewart and Julia Mayer, they do caffeine and coffee shop ambiance ridiculously right. Come, sit, and stay awhile if you can.
Really, though, the coffee drinks are just the fuzz on the tennis ball in this town. The options for filling up your bowl are endless. Dot and I could not resist a trip to Lama Dog last week for obvious reasons. But, besides the smack of loa around the name and the loveable Tibetan mastiff that is the tap house’s namesake, this place is a beer drinker’s paradise on the ocean end of the Funk Zone; 20 different taps and a half dozen refrigerators full of bottled options had my tail wagging instantly. More of a craft-cocktail sipper? You just have to get right with big cats and hit up The Good Lion . Their drink menu rotates weekly and always features a wild and whimsical alchemy of libations with organic fresh-squeezed juices and scratch-made syrups. Can’t support anything even remotely feline? The Imperial out Goleta way is a terrific plan B.